Community garden has plans to grow

THE Warralily Community Garden project has showcased its edible spring garden and revealed more details about its plans to keep growing in Armstrong Creek.

The garden project has set up in an interim location but has recently received approval from the City of Greater Geelong to lease vacant land next to the Armstrong Creek East Community Hub for its permanent home.

Volunteers hosted an array of free activities during the open day earlier this month for everyone to get involved, including pot decorating, seedling planting, and worm petting.

 

The garden’s scarecrow now has a name, “Farnta”, a made-up name by two-year-old Clark Judd.

Warralily Community Garden spokesperson Brenda Rodda-Windon said the open day and previous community consultation confirmed strong community support for the project.

“It was a joy to see so many people attend the event and to receive such positive feedback.

“So many like-minded environmentally conscious people live in our neighbourhood and we hope many will share our passion for gardening.

“We are committed to establishing a community garden and strongly believe the space will provide a multitude of community, environmental and health benefits for this newly established suburb.

“We have developed a vision for the space and are very keen to harness the community’s enthusiasm to make it happen.”

 

The garden will be developed in stages, with existing plans including concepts that will provide something of interest and be accessible to everyone.

While the garden will include space for traditional plots for hire so members can grow and maintain their own garden beds, many new concepts will also be incorporated to make it a fertile space for learning, interacting and growing as a community.

Innovative concepts include a native bush tucker walk where the community can learn about Indigenous plants, edible tucker and the importance of plants in indigenous culture, an upcycled sculpture and tactile garden constructed from recycled materials with plantings specifically chosen for their sensory properties and a world garden dedicated to plant species from several countries around the world to engage different cultural groups in the community.